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JAKARTA Nov 4 (Reuters) – Indonesia could decide as early as next week to join a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank, the finance minister told Reuters, as Southeast Asia’s largest economy looks for extra funding to build much needed ports, railways and roads.

China’s $50-billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), launched last month, is seen by the United States as a challenge to the Western-dominated World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/04/indonesia-aiib-idUSL4N0SU4ID20141104

Oct 8 (Reuters) – The World Bank’s finance arm said on Wednesday it is boosting its investments in Indonesian companies by around a quarter to more than $1 billion for its fiscal year ended June 2015, mainly in the infrastructure and manufacturing sectors.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) invested a record $804 million in Indonesia in the year ended June 2014, up 84 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/08/worldbank-investment-idUSL3N0S31WH20141008

Mining the oil sands is a difficult business, but it’s one of the biggest oil resources left in the world. Tapping into this resource can be an awfully dirty process. Now, though, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, a proven business leader with close relationships with Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Capitol Hill, is trying to find a way to improve oil sands production by reducing its carbon footprint.

Read more at:  http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/07/20/general-electrics-ceo-plans-to-save-a-vital-indust.aspx

In an inteview with Corporate Dossier, GE’s Jeffrey Immelt shares his views on what it takes to run one of the world’s most admired companies.

A gauge of consumer confidence in Indonesia has jumped to new highs as the country gears up for next month’s presidential election.

The ANZ Bank-Roy Morgan confidence index for May has found that a “super-majority” of 91 per cent of consumers expect good economic times over the next five years.

A record high of 85 per cent of Indonesians are positive about their financial situation for the next 12 months.

Read more at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-12/indonesia-consumer-confidence-increases-ahead-of-poll/5517328

LONDON, Jun 10, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX)

In response to growing demand from property investors for insurance cover that is compliant with Islamic law, Willis Group Holdings WSH -0.06% , the global risk adviser, insurance and reinsurance broker, has launched the UK’s first Shariah compliant commercial real estate insurance.

Read more at:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/willis-launches-the-uks-first-shariah-compliant-real-estate-insurance-solution-2014-06-10?reflink=MW_news_stmp

(Reuters) – Dubai Islamic Bank has completed the acquisition of a 24.9 percent stake in Bank Panin Syariah and will now seek regulatory approval to increase its holding in the Indonesian lender to 40 percent, it said on Monday.

The largest Islamic bank in the United Arab Emirates has bought 2.42 billion shares in the only listed sharia-compliant bank in the southeast Asian nation, it said in a stock market filing. No purchase price was given.

Read more at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/09/dib-bank-panin-idUSL5N0OQ1ZD20140609

May 26 (Reuters) – Indonesia has mandated HSBC , Standard Chartered and CIMB Group Holdings Bhd to arrange a sovereign sukuk issue of up to $1.5 billion, sources aware of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The head of the Indonesian finance ministry’s debt management office, Robert Pakpahan, confirmed that the government had appointed the three banks as underwriters. He did not specify the size of the planned issue or give other details.

Read more at:  http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/26/indonesia-sukuk-idUSL6N0OC1W220140526